Among the most concrete outcomes of Colcom Foundation’s decades of grantmaking is the protection and restoration of natural landscapes in Western Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh-based foundation, established in 1996 by Cordelia Scaife May, has directed significant resources toward improving water quality, restoring degraded ecosystems, and securing critical land from development. More than $500 million in total grants have supported this work across nearly three decades of sustained philanthropic activity.

Why Water Quality Matters

Water quality sits at the intersection of ecological health, public health, and community well-being, which is why Colcom Foundation has made it a funding priority. Clean waterways support biodiversity, filter pollutants from drinking water supplies, and maintain the aquatic ecosystems that form the base of food webs. Grants from the Foundation have supported restoration projects that address the upstream causes of water degradation, from agricultural runoff to industrial pollution to habitat loss along stream corridors. These investments produce benefits that extend well beyond the project sites themselves. Through their grants, they have supported many organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, which works towards protecting endangered species, and the Sierra Club Foundation, which advocates for clean energy and climate solutions. These grants have helped to advance important causes and support organizations that strive to make a difference.

Land Protection as a Conservation Tool

Colcom Foundation’s land protection grants complement its water quality work by safeguarding the forests, wetlands, and natural areas that regulate watershed health. Protected land cannot be paved or developed, which means the ecological functions it provides, filtering water, storing carbon, sheltering wildlife, remain intact indefinitely. The Foundation has helped ensure that significant tracts of Western Pennsylvania remain undeveloped and publicly accessible, a legacy that reflects Cordelia Scaife May’s vision of communities living in balance with the natural systems around them. Read this article for additional information.

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